5/8- Nittany Nation Report- Penn State and Pitt to Play Again in Hoops

5/8- Nittany Nation Report- Penn State and Pitt to Play Again in Hoops

<br><span><span><span style='font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10pt;'>Penn State and Pittsburgh will rekindle the most prolific series in Nittany Lion basketball annals as part of the 2013 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK's Sporting Goods. </span></span></span>

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.;
MAY 8, 2013 -Penn State and
Pittsburgh will rekindle the most prolific series in Nittany Lion basketball
annals as part of the 2013 ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK's Sporting
Goods.

The Nittany Lions and
Panthers will meet for the 145th time, and first since 2005, when
they collide Tuesday, Dec. 3 at Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center on the first
of two days of the 2013 Challenge. Pittsburgh, which begins competition in the
ACC in the 2013-14 season, will be the Lions' eighth different opponent in the
Challenge, which is entering its 15th season. Penn State has won four
of their last six Challenge contests, including its last three Challenge road
games, and has a 5-7 record overall in 12 Challenge
appearances.

"We are excited to
continue a tremendous rivalry with such a long and storied tradition between our
two Universities," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. "It's great that we
can be a part of an event that also matches the top two basketball conferences
in the nation."

All 12 games in the
15th annual staging of the Challenge between two of the most
successful college basketball conferences will be televised by a combination of
ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Tip times and television arrangements will be announced
at a later date.

Pitt leads the all-time
series with Penn State, which began in 1906, by a count of 76-68 and has won the
last five meetings. Penn State's last win in the series came with an 88-74
victory in the Bryce Jordan Center in 2000. The teams last met in 2005 with Pitt
claiming a 91-54 victory in Pittsburgh to complete a series of meetings in six
straight seasons. The programs met at least once a year every season from 1935
through 1982 and every season except for two between 1913 and 1982.

Pitt returns three starters and six
of its top 10 scorers from a team that finished 24-9 overall and advanced to its
11th NCAA Tournament over the last 12 seasons in
2012-13.

Pitt, Notre Dame and Syracuse will
join the Challenge in their first seasons in the ACC.
The 2013 Challenge
involves eight teams ranked in the ESPN.com early preseason top 25, including
six of the top 11 teams: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No.
8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25
Iowa. Fourteen teams between the two conferences played in the 2013 NCAA
Tournament.

Penn State will
boast the top three returning scorers in the Big Ten in 2013-14. The Lions
return four of their top five scorers and rebounders as well as 80 percent or
more of their points, rebounds and assists from a 2012-13 squad that posted a
10-21 record, but knocked of No. 4-ranked and eventual NCAA runner-up Michigan
(84-78) in late February. First-team All-Big Ten guard Tim Frazier
(Houston, Texas), who ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring (18.8 ppg) and led
the league in assists (6.2) in 2011-12, returns with an NCAA medical hardship
waiver after playing in just four games in 2012-13 after suffering a torn
Achilles. He will join 2013 All-Big Ten honorable-mention honorees D.J.
Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.), who
finished fifth (16.3 ppg) and sixth (15.3 ppg), respectively, in the Big Ten in
scoring in 2012-13, to form one of the most potent backcourts in the nation.
Sophomore forward Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.), who finished fifth in the
Big Ten in rebounding (7.4 rpg) and posted double-doubles in three of his last
seven games, and Brandon Taylor (Tabernacle, N.J.), who made 32 threes in
his freshman season, will anchor the frontcourt.

Penn State dropped its ACC/Big Ten
Challenge contest 73-61 to Boston College last year. Marshall (25) and Newbill
(20) both logged 20-point games in that contest. The leagues tied at six wins
each in the 2012 Challenge, the first ever tie in the event, as the Big Ten
retained the Commissioners Cup after having won the previous three Challenges.
The Big Ten has three Challenge wins overall while the ACC has won 10
Challenges.Seven of the previous 14
Challenges have been decided by one game.

Penn State's last for
wins in Challenge games have come at Boston College (2011), vs. Virginia Tech
(2007), at Georgia Tech (2008) and at Virginia (2009). In 2010, Penn State
became the first ever Big Ten program to win Challenge games in three
consecutive seasons.

The 2013 Challenge will
tipoff on Tuesday, Dec. 3 with six games: Minnesota will host Florida State and
Iowa will host Notre Dame in Big Ten home contests. Illinois travels to Georgia
Tech, Indiana is at Syracuse, Michigan is at Duke and Penn State is at
Pittsburgh in Big Ten road contests.

The Challenge wraps up
on Wednesday, Dec. 4 with six more games. Purdue will host Boston College, Ohio
State welcomes Maryland, Nebraska hosts Miami (Fla.) and Michigan State hosts
North Carolina in Big Ten home games. Northwestern travels to N.C. State and
Wisconsin to Virginia in Big Ten road contests.

The Challenge game marks
the third announced date on the Lions' 2013-14 schedule. Penn State will also be
part of the field for the 2013 Barclays Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. Penn
State is slated for two games at the new arena Nov. 29-30 and will join Georgia
Tech (ACC), Ole Miss (SEC) and St. John's (Big East) for the second year of the
event.

2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule
(times and networks are to be
determined):